This choice: Wait, where did Harley go? • Go Back...Chapter #6A friendly game by: Unknown Harley yawned and moved her queenside rook to D4 . Across the picnic table, an elderly gardevoir woman, marked by her curt green (now mostly white) hair and pale skin, hemmed and haaed.
"It's been a while since I've seen a young 'un pass up a day like this to play chess with an old coot." the woman said with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. Harley laughed and looked around.
"Looks like any ol' day to me." she said. "We're on a, watcha call it, vacation. So I'm vacationing. Don't move your knight, I'll take that pawn you need later."
"I saw that." the woman said, tapping her chin with a bony finger. "Vacation? You from the college then?" she tentatively moved a knight in the way of one of Harley's bishops.
"No." Harley said, ignoring the knight and moving a pawn so that her opponent now had free access to her king. "We do, well, odd jobs. Heh heh. Detective work, mostly. Except sometimes...."
"Detective work?" the woman asked, surprised. She had seen through the ruse and was capturing one of Harley's knights. "How odd. I worked as an assistant to a P.I. for many years. I was something of a detective myself."
"Lucky that." Harley said. "Check. So what's the big mystery here?"
"Who said anything about a mystery here?" the woman asked, studying the board and trying to figure out how she had missed one of Harley's bishops pinning her king.
"You're not from this town. And you're gathering clues." Harley nodded in the direction of the woman's lap. Despite not being able to see it, she seemed sure. The woman sighed and put a small notepad on the table that she had been sitting on.
"Think you're clever, don't you. Yes, well, it's the oddest thing. The businesses here used to be dead. The beach was mostly a local treasure. Good, but not on route to anything. Now, suddenly, it's the place to be, and the businesses are booming....especially all the food stands. Check."
"So? Probably got featured in a paper or something."
"I don't think so. There's something more. My intuition never steered me wrong. And I know a kindred spirit when I see it."
"Heh." Harley chuckled. "Maybe. Checkmate."
"What?"
"It was nice talking to you, Ms. Adeline." Harley said. "I'll see you around." she got up and walked away at quite the leisurely pace. The old woman looked at the board in confusion. Sure enough, there was her king, pinned. She sighed, placed one finger on its crown, and began to topple it. She paused though, leaving it titled.
"When the hell did I tell her my name?"   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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